Round two of the state playoffs have come to an end and Cartersville is still in the running for the 3A Championship as they pulled out a 24-23 victory over the Titans.

The game was tied at seven going into the second quarter, but the Canes took the lead and kept Blessed Trinity from scoring until the fourth quarter.

Cartersville will now take on the Thomson Bulldogs Friday.

Thomson was able to knock out Johnson of Savannah, 35-19 on Friday night, moving them one step closer to a championship.

Both Cartersville and Thomson stand undefeated at 12-0 as they enter Friday night’s quarterfinal matchup, but one of them will wrap up their season at the end of this week while the other moves into the semifinals, just one win away from the Georgia Dome.

Week one of the playoffs ended with half of the teams packing it in, but the Cartersville Purple Hurricanes were in the luckier half which survived to play another game, as they defeated the Jackson County Panthers, 56-21, Nov 16.

“We played a good team and we played well against them,’ said head coach, Frank Barden.

With the victory in the first round, Barden and his team are still taking it one game at a time and staying focused on the next week, which is all that can be done in the playoffs.

“We’re excited about moving on to the second round,” Barden said.

During the round one competition, Barden had two players stand out and lead the team. Quarterback, Brooks Barden finished the night with 122 rushing yards, completed 14 of 27 passes for 212 yards and threw for six touchdowns.

Wide receiver TL

Ford led the team in receptions with six catches for 82 yards.

After the results of the games came in, Cartersville knew they would face off against Blessed Trinity Nov. 23 for round two.

“They are very well coached and disciplined. It’s going to be a good match-up. They have a lot of seniors so it’s going to be a challenge for us but we’re prepared for it,” said Barden.

The team and the coaches immediately got to work following the round one. Film was studied over the weekend and morning meeting and practices began on Monday and continued every day up until game day, the coach said.

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